Thrown together on an extrasolar planet, Terrans Bailey Marshall and Melalie Noris despise one another. Marshall, the freewheeling, morally questionable agent for an interplanetary trade association, is searching for the source of a rare mind-expanding drug. Melalie, a cultural attach in the Terran embassy, rebuffs his attempts at friendly conversation. She admires the indigenous people. Marshall calls them "big octopuses" and mocks their sacred...